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Floating Campaign's boat this week are the Guardian's Kindle edition, Frank Skinner, News of the World crossword and Mildred Pierce. Tatler, meanwhile, is a sinking ship.

Staff

July 15, 2011

How long?

2-3 minutes

The Guardian's Kindle edition

The Guardian is quite rightly proud of the journalism that has brought to light the allegations against News International, and this week it unleashed its latest platform innovation in the shape of a Kindle edition of The Guardian and The Observer.Initially, the edition is available on a free trial before the publisher introduces a £9.99 monthly charge, a move that should help The Guardian towards funding its content.

Frank Skinner's podcast

Frank Skinner's show on Absolute has landed him a Sony Award for Best Entertainment Show, and now the podcast of the programme has delivered record figures for the station. The podcast has become the most successful in commercial radio, achieving five million downloads in the first six months of the year, helped by a record week in June that saw downloads hit 268,000. The podcast's high production values, combined with Skinner's talents, have helped make the download such as success.

News of the World crossword

Our Sunday mornings won't quite be the same again now that the News of the World is no more, but we - together with the four million others who purchased the final edition of the paper last weekend - enjoyed its swansong. It seemed like the bitter staff of the paper managed to retain a sense of humour by burying references to events at Wapping in the title's crossword. The clues included "woman stares wildly at calamity", "mix in prison", "criminal enterprise" and "catastrophe". Hopefully, the News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, appreciated their efforts.

Mildred Pierce on Sky Atlantic

The first three episodes of the HBO production Mildred Pierce have proved to be very watchable. Sumptuously shot, the 30s period piece, starring Kate Winslet, gives some weight to Sky Atlantic's claims to show the very best in US imported programming. Winslet is on top form, and the authentic sets and period props add to the feeling that this is a quality production. BlackBerry's classy sponsorship idents somehow manage not to jar with the 30s action and complete the package.

AND ONE THING WE DON'T...

The cover of Tatler

We're not sure which direction the new editor of Tatler, Kate Reardon, wants the magazine to go in, but by the looks of the latest issue, she's aiming directly for the bin. The cover, a grainy black-and-white headshot of Pippa Middleton surrounded by a gaudy collage of flowers, looks like it was created by a bunch of primary school kids. Inside, the look and feel is more like that of a cheap women's weekly than that of a quality luxury glossy. We can't imagine the horsey set will be prepared to part with their not-so-hard-earned cash for something this tacky.